Author Archives: Dutch Gurus

Strippenkaart

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bus and tram card [noun] [de strippenkaart, de strippenkaarten]

2288753229_4b95c6a16a_zLiterally: “strips card” / “card with strips”.

(Note: text below no longer current due to introduction of OV-chip card.)
In the Dutch public transportation system, a certain card is in use with so called “strippen” (“strips”). These have to be stamped when travelling by bus, tram or metro.
This so called “strippenkaart” can be bought at several locations: at the ticket office of the Dutch railroads, at the ticket office of the local tramcompany, at the Albert Heijn and at the post office.
Two kinds of “strippenkaarten” exist: the blue “strippenkaart” for ‘normal’ users, and there’s the pink “strippenkaart” for users in the ‘discount categories’ (elderly people (65+), students, little children).
“Strippenkaarten” – both blue and pink – come in two sizes: 15 strips and 45 strips. Using a “strippenkaart” is cheaper than buying a separate ticket in bus or tram. A bus/tram subscription is nevertheless the cheapest…
(Photo: Tnarek Innael (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

Examples:
1. “Heb jij een strippenkaart? Anders moet ik een kaartje bij de trambestuurder kopen.”
(“Do you have a bus and tram card? Otherwise I have to buy a ticket from the tram driver.”)

2. “Mevrouw, u heeft niet voldoende strippen afgestempeld, ik ben bang dat we u een boete moeten geven.”
(“Madam, you have not stamped enough strips, I’m afraid that we’re going to have to give you a fine.”), see also ‘Extra’.

Related words:
1. “Openbaar vervoer” or “OV”: public transportation.

2. “Kaartje”: ticket (for a ride on the tram, literally: “little card”).

3. “Enkeltje”: one-way ticket (literally: “little single”).

4. “Retourtje”: return ticket (literally: “little return”).

Extra on “Stempelen” (“Stamping”): validating your strippenkaart
The number of strips that has to be stamped equals the number of public transportation zones that are travelled in, plus 1 (Dutch logic…). In a bus, stamping is done by the driver only. In the tram in The Hague, stamping is done by either the driver, or by oneself in the designated stamping machines. In Amsterdam stamping is often done by a designated person who sits in a cabin in the middle or back of the tram.
One who uses a “strippenkaart” for the first time, is advised to do this in the company of an experienced traveller 😉

Oprotten

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to piss/sod/bugger off [verb] [rotte op, opgerot] [‘op-ro-tun‘]

(Literally: "to rot off/away".)

This
verb is mainly used in its command form (imperative). In Dutch you
create the imperative by removing -en from the verb. However, you can
also use the infinitive as a command form, see ‘Examples’.

In the case of "oprotten" and similar verbs, one can also use
the past participle. Maybe this is to express the wish that the person
you address has already buggered off!

"Oprotten" is one of those verbs that you have to break up when conjugating.

Examples:
1. "Rot op!": sod off!
2. <infinitive> "Oprotten!" : sod off!
3. <past participle> "Opgerot!" : sod off!

Expression:
"Dat kan me niks rotten!"

<rude:> "I don’t care / I don’t give a damn!" (Literally: "That can rot nothing to me!")

Related word:
A less rude way of saying "oprotten" is "opkrassen" ("to scratch off/away").

Tram

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tram, streetcar [noun] [de tram, de trams; ‘trem’]

Amsterdamse tramThe “tram” is a very common means of transportation in some of the bigger cities in The Netherlands. It is a vehicle, conducted through rails, for short distance transport of passengers, with a maximum speed of approximately 50 km/h.
(Photo by Maurizio Mori (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

You can turn “tram” into a verb by adding -en. The verb “trammen” translates to “to go by tram”, but is more common to say: “met de tram gaan/reizen” (“to go/travel by tram”).

When riding your bicycle you have to be careful when you try to cross the tram tracks; you are in big trouble if your front wheel is caught in the rails!

Examples:
1. “Trams hebben bijna altijd voorrang.”
(“Trams almost always have right of way.”)

2. “Voor korte afstanden kun je beter met de fiets gaan dan met de tram.”
(“For short distances you had better go by bicycle than by tram.”)

Expression:
“Onder de tram komen.”
(Literally: “To wind up under the tram.”)

This expression can often be heard in project meetings where it is used to express fear of losing corporate knowledge.

Example:
“En wat gebeurt er met het project als Frank onder de tram komt?”
(“<worried:> So what happens to the project if Frank winds up under the tram/if he’s hit by a tram?”)

Vis

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Grammar: <vis> [noun] [de <vis> -en, s -> ss].

HaringTranslates to: fish.

Examples:
1. “Goudvis”: goldfish.

2. “Zwaardvis”: swordfish.

Expressions:
1. “Bakvis”: teenage girl.

2. “Achter het net vissen.”
(“To miss the boat.” Literally: “fish behind the net.”)

3. “Boter bij de vis.”
This expression is used to indicate you have to pay cash before the goods are handed over. Literally: “Butter with the fish.”

4. “Hij voelt zich als een vis in het water.”
(“He feels like a fish in water.”)

5. “De vis wordt duur betaald.”
(Literally: the fish is paid for dearly.”)
This is a classic Dutch saying used when you have to pay a lot for something that is not worth it. This saying became well-known when it was used in the Dutch play “Op hoop van zegen” (1900) by Herman Heijermans. In this play fishermen did not return to their village from their fishing trips. Hence the fish in the village was paid for dearly.

Extra:
Read about the play “Op hoop van zegen”, or watch the movie:
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op_hoop_van_zegen (in Dutch)

http://imdb.com/title/tt0091685/plotsummary

Kloppen

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to knock, to beat/pound, to be correct/in order [verb] [klopte, geklopt]

Deur met deurklopper“Kloppen” is a so-called homonym: a word that has more than one meaning. The Dutch language is (in)famous for its frequent use of homonyms, check out DWOTD “Aankomen“.

Examples:
1. “Toen de postbode zag dat er geen bel was, klopte hij drie maal op de deur.”
(“When the postman saw that there was no doorbell, he knocked on the door three times.”)

2. “Het decolleté van de aantrekkelijke projectmanager deed het hart van de jonge programmeur sneller kloppen.”
(“The attractive project manager’s cleavage made the young programmer’s heart beat faster.”)

3. “Toen de politieagent zag dat het slot van de deur geforceerd was, wist hij dat er iets niet klopte.”
(“When the police officer saw that the doorlock had been forced open, he knew that something was wrong).”

Expressions:
1. “Dat klopt als een bus!”.
(“That’s absolutely correct/right!”. Literally: “That knocks like a bus!”)

Also: “Dat klopt als een zwerende vinger!”
(Literally: “That pounds like a gathering finger!”)

–> It is very common to just say: “dat klopt!”

2. “Bij iemand aankloppen”.
(“To ask someone for help or advice”. Literally: “To knock at somebody’s”, where “door” is implied).

Related words:
1. “Afkloppen”.
(Literally: “to knock
down”). Translates to “to knock on wood”: the superstitious habit to
renounce bad luck by knocking on a wooden object.

2. “Schouderklopje”.
(Literally: “little pat on the shoulder”). Translates to “pat on the back”.

Example:
– “Iedereen vindt het prettig om af en toe een schouderklopje te krijgen.”
(“Everybody likes getting a pat on the back now and then.”)

Extra:
Two well known children songs frequently use the word “kloppen”:

1. “Daar wordt aan de deur geklopt.”
(“There is knocking at the door.”)
Read the lyrics and listen to the song here.

2. “Hoor, wie klopt daar kinderen?”
(“Hear, who is knocking there children?”)
Read the lyrics and listen to the song here.

Both songs are “Sinterklaasliedjes”. “Sinterklaas” is a direct competitor of Santa Claus, whom the Dutch refer to as the “Kerstman”. (Both originate from the same catholic saint though: Sint Nicolaas (“Saint Nicolas”)).

More info on “Sinterklaas”:
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas (English)
– http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas (Dutch)